


Life hurts a lot more than death

by Eponine_Thenardibae



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Death, Angst, Asphyxiation tw, Modern AU, alcohol tw, death tw, drugs tw, oh boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 16:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7515889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eponine_Thenardibae/pseuds/Eponine_Thenardibae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Something goes awfully wrong when there is a hiccup in Montparnasse and Eponine's plan to get rid of her parents for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life hurts a lot more than death

**Author's Note:**

> This may be the most angsty thing I've ever written. Ever. And like, thats really saying something. I edited this at two in the morning please be nice to me

Eponine found a room. She looked into it carefully and recognised it as her parents old guest bedroom, which was mostly used for nothing but storage, since the Thenardier’s rarely had guests, since they rarely had friends. She knew no one ever went in there due to it being useless and it was perfect for exactly what she needed it for. So, when she saw Montparnasse walking down the hallway - presumably to look for her - she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in, hastily shutting the door behind them once he was safely in the room.

“Ok.” She started. “Be quick or they’ll wonder why we’ve been gone so long.” She turned to face them, leaning against the door. “You got a plan?” She asked, snapping ever so slightly. Wishing to get out of the situation as soon as possible, as paranoia started taking over her mind. 

Montparnasse glared back at her, brushing his jacket on the spot that she’d pulled him sharply into the room by. “Don’t fucking pull me ‘ponine, this is a new blazer. And it’s designer.” He finished grumpily brushing off his arm to remove any grime that might have come off Eponine in the process. “Yes. I have a plan.” 

“Do I look like I give a fuck that its designer?” Eponine said, rolling her eyes. She was aware she was being particularly harsh today, but she was eager to get this conversation over with, and fast. She checked the door once again and turned back. 

“Alright, let's hear it.”   
“I’ve poisoned a bottle of wine. I’m going to tell them it’s from Babet. A late Christmas present.” 

Eponine had to admit it was an excellent plan. Poison left very little trace if the right one was used, and if it wasn’t, she didn’t really care all that much since her and Montparnasse would hopefully be on some form of public transport with fake ID’s by then. As well as that, It was still early January, so Christmas would be a good excuse to give someone something without it seeming too suspicious. 

No matter how confident she was in the plot however, she still needed to clear some things, she wasn’t ready to just give in to whatever Montparnasse said without questioning it. She never had been. So, she raised her eyebrows. “Wow. You’re Smart as well as pretty.” She crossed her arms and her ankles simultaneously as she leaned against the door. “Only two flaws in that plan.” She said it as though it were a compliment, which made it seem only less so.

Montparnasse raised his eyebrow in challenge and crossed his arms to match her. “Oh?” He said, cocking his head to one side and appearing to wonder what she could possibly have against his genius plan, while secretly reveling in fact he knew he had answers.

“First of all.” She uncrossed her arms and held one of her hands up to gesticulate her point. The other hand still across her body. “They might mention it to Babet. Secondly, they might offer us some.” She shrugged, letting her arm that had been held in the air fall to her side. “I mean, my parents are dickheads, but they’re not stupid.” 

“You think your parents are gonna share?” Montparnasse said with a hint of sarcastic laughter as Eponine glared at him. “Also, Babet goes to sleep early. If I give it to them at midnight, then they’ll drink it before bed.” Montparnasse sounded a little bit triumphant, as if they had proved Eponine wrong on a point they had been arguing for hours. 

“Good points.” She said, shrugging. She then stepped forward slightly and pointed at him, mostly pointing up, since she was almost a foot shorter than him. “You better hope this works out. If we get caught, then we’re gonna be the one who are dead and I can guarantee that my parents probably wouldn’t go for something as quick and easy as poison.”

“It’ll be fine, just trust me for once.” Montparnasse sighed in frustration, as if it was not a big deal and she was being completely unreasonable, in making sure nothing went wrong. 

She sighed, softening a little but still staying stern. She didn’t want to fight him like this, but she knew a lot could go wrong for them if they didn’t succeed, and in her opinion, she was entitled to be antsy about it. Besides, she knew she could make up for it with she offended him with a round of drinks and a few sarcastic jokes. “I’m not being funny, but this is a massive deal. I’m just trying to make sure we - and by we, I mean you - don’t screw up.” So maybe she was being a little harsh, and she knew it, but she couldn’t care less right now. 

“I’ll take the blame.” Montparnasse shrugged, and despite his apparently casual attitude towards it, Eponine took it as a reassuring statement, and her features softened completely, so she started to look less angry and less like her mother. 

“Alright, I’ll leave first so it doesn’t look suspicious.” Leaving a room at the same time was not exactly suspicious, and her parents wouldn’t really think anything of it if they saw her leaving a room with Montparnasse, but she wanted to be safe. “Seeya later love.” She slipped out of the room quietly and blew a kiss at him as he waved.  
_____________________________________________________

Azelma often sat in closets. She didn’t know why, but she liked feeling closed in. She felt as if being closed in the confines of a dark cupboard or closet, was like a warm safe hug that she was unlikely to get from any of her family members. Today she had picked the closet of an old guest bedroom that her parents didn’t sure anymore. The closet smelt of old perfume. The type that her mother had worn when Azelma was a child, but had been switched to a cheaper brand when they moved to Paris. 

She was enjoying stroking the old fabrics of mostly stolen, decades old dresses and jackets when she heard two people enter the room. She didn’t leave, since she assumed it was her parents, and she knew she would probably get a swift slap across the face if they thought she had been snooping or trying to steal something. However, to her surprise, she heard the voice of neither of her parents. There was still a masculine voice and a feminine voice, but they belonged to her sister, Eponine, and Eponine’s handsome friend Montparnasse. 

The conversation she overheard was nothing like how she expected it to go. Her first thought was her dreading them starting to make out while she was in the room, but she would have happily sat watching them eat each others faces off for hours if it meant she could unhear the conversation she actually had to sit in on. 

What she overheard made her heart pound. From what she heard - which was everything - she picked up that Montparnasse was planning on poisoning her parents with wine, and then she assumed they would run off with Eponine. Only one emotion could be felt by Azelma. Jealously. 

It probably wasn’t the emotion she should be feeling, but she knew in her gut that she would be left by them to pick up the pieces. She would probably be taken into care, and that's if she was lucky. She wasn’t ready to let them go so easily, so one Eponine left the room, she came out of the closet to see Montparnasse still in the room, sitting on the bed and smoking what looked like a joint. 

“Mont is that you?” She asked, looking directly at him as if there was some sort of doubt that it was in fact Montparnasse and she was hallucinating him sitting there in the room. This made Montparnasse jump and drop the still burning joint onto their leg.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed, hastily picking it up to prevent their clothes getting burnt, and dusting the ash off of his trousers. 

“Is that a joint?” Azelma asked as she smelled the strong scent making its way over to herside of the room. “Can I have some?” She thought trying her luck wouldn’t do any harm, but Montparnasse just scowled at her.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?” He snapped, and looked towards the weed “Fuck no.” He said in response to her later question, which made her feel even worse than she did before and reminded her how much he thought of her as a kid. An annoying kid.

“I was in the closet.” She took a second to realize how strange she probably sounded while Montparnasse looked at her in a type of judgemental confusion. “I like small spaces!” She snapped, showing him that was that as she sat down next to him.

“The fuck.” Said Montparnasse. More like a statement then a question. Azelma was not even sure what he was asking the the question or making the statement about. Was it her sitting down? Liking small spaces? A separate thing she hadn’t noticed? Whatever it was, she decided to get straight to the point.

“I heard what you were talking about.” She was trying to sound slightly imposing, but sounded a lot more like an annoyed child who had overheard something she didn’t want to hear. Which was exactly what Azelma was.

“And are you going to be smart about it?”   
Azelma couldn’t tell if it was the weed making him more chill than usual, but she had expected him to be at least slightly annoyed, or to yell at her for eavesdropping. She almost felt pissed off that he didn’t seem to be taking any offense, and she wasn’t ready to leave without a protest. 

“You’re both going to leave me after. Aren't you?” She hissed, glaring at him from under the mess of ginger hair that she usually let just hang around her face.

“No one said that.” He put out the joint, anticipating that Azelma might be there some time, as she didn’t seem to be backing down any time soon, as was often the case. Azelma noted straight away that Montparnasse didn’t ever deny that they would leave her there, and her chest was aflame with anger.

“You never said you’d take me with you!” She was dangerously close to yelling, but she wanted to reiterate what she was implying, since she couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, but she was sure Montparnasse would see reason and give her the answer she was looking for.

“You’ll be fine.” 

That wasn’t the answer she was looking for. 

She was hurt. More than hurt, she was livid. She decided if they would do actually what she didnt want, then she would return the favour. She stood up, with the idea of storming out, and she yelled over her shoulder. “I’m gonna tell them!” Sounding more whiny than ever.

Before she could reach the door however, Montparnasse shot in front of her and blocked the doorway with his body. “Don’t you fucking dare.” In a way, he had given her the reaction that she wanted, but she wasn’t ready to let it go that easily. 

“Hey! Move it!” She tried dodging past him, but he was much taller than her and much faster, so she didn’t have much chance of getting past him unless he moved out the way for her, which he clearly wasn’t planning on doing any time soon. 

“You arn’t telling them.” He stated it clearly as an actuality. Not a request or even a demand, but a fact, which made her start to feel slightly uneasy, and wonder what lengths he would go to to keep her quiet. “I don’t care if I have to lock you in here, Azelma.” 

She liked small spaces, but she didn’t like the sound of that. Azelma was feeling more nervous at this point then she had before. Hearing a plot about people killing your parents wasn’t the most calming thing to hear, even if your parents were terrible, but this really won the award for reaching the capacity of her nerves, since now it was involving her. So she panicked. “I’ll tell Eponine you were mean to me! And I’m telling my parents you’re gonna hurt them, because you’re a dick! Now let me out!” She tried her luck and attempted to dart past them, using all her body strength to get out of the room, but her plan failed and instead resulted in Montparnasse pushing her backwards and further into the room.

“Sit the fuck down, Zelma.” Montparnasse was close to losing patience, since there was no way in a million years he was going to let a whining teenager get in the way of what he’d been planning for months, especially if this information got out, it could result in a lot of harm coming to him and Eponine. “You aren't ruining this.” 

“Fuck off!” She’d had her fair share of fighting for today, and she couldn’t think of anywhere she wanted to be less than stuck in this room. Since Montparnasse didn’t seem to be backing down anytime soon and seemed to be prepared to make it physical, she would too. She swiftly brought her elbow back as fast as she could, and with Montparnasse still stood directly in front of her, she propelled a single punch straight into his stomach with all the strength she had. 

It would have been a lie if Montparnasse said it didn’t hurt, but it only showed to him that she wasn’t ready to let this go without a fight, so he pushed her again. This time he pushed her harder and the momentum forced her to sit on the bed he’d previously been sat on with her. Hopefully if he could explain things, she’d see sense and finally shut up. “Stay there! I’m getting Eponine.” He snapped, realizing this was a job she’d be more suited to.

Azelma was adamant that she wouldn’t be staying anywhere. “Fuck that.” She stood up and started rushing towards the door again. She was nearly out, and ready to run or cry to Eponine or her mother. Whoever she saw first really, and she was formulating her speech about how mean Montparnasse had been to her, when she felt herself be grabbed painfully around the waist and lifted into the air, to which she responded to with a loud, piercing scream. 

Montparnasse took her back to the bed and pinned her down by the shoulders, looking directly into her eyes while she wriggled uncomfortably and whined loudly to be released. “Stop shrieking! This is going to be better for everyone!” Frankly, it was surprising that no one had come in on them already, and even if it had been Eponine that caught them like this she’d be pretty pissed off with Montparnasse regardless of what he said in defense, so he needed her to shut up. And fast.

“Get off! You’re hurting me!” She yelled. She could feel him digging into her shoulders, and her waist still stung from the sudden, jerking grab at it. She kicked outwards and hard, hoping to catch a sensitive part of Montparnasse’s leg, although since a punch to the stomach didn’t seem to debilitate him, she was really hoping for the best at this point.

“Say you won’t tell.” If it wasn’t for what she was planning on telling, really this would be nothing more than a fight like one between two children, after one had caught the other doing something bad like eating the last cookie or vandalizing another’s possession. However, what had been talked about made the whole situation far more sinister for the both of them. Azelma was being held down by someone trying to kill her parents and Montparnasse was doing his best to stop him and Eponine being put in the most danger imaginable. It was just unfortunate that neither of them could see the others point of view.

“Fuck off!” Azelma spat at him, raising her voice and going from nervous to scared pretty quickly. Mostly she was hoping someone else would hear her shouting and she would continue to scream until either he’d let go of her, or somebody made him let go of her. 

This wasn’t part of Montparnasse’s plan at all, and panic set in for them as Azelma refused to do anything beyond cry and struggle. He was convinced she would see his point if she would just shut up for one second and let him speak. “Stop yelling!” They hissed, and in their own panic, they quickly put their hand over her mouth to stop her yelling. Unaware that he had accidentally covered her nose.

Being unable to breath only made Azelma struggle more violently. She kicked and hit at them, and yes, she was making less noise now but she was still trying her best and frantic muffled yells could be heard for a bit longer, while Montparnasse tried to explain himself the best they could. Until she stopped completely. Montparnasse breathed a sigh of relief and moved his hand from her face, expecting her to sit up and listen to him, even if she was still annoyed at him for manhandling her.

However, she didn’t move at all, and this made Montparnasse’s heart drop so much, it would not have been a surprise to him if he had felt it hit the floor. “Zelma?” He shaked her slightly, but this did nothing. She only lay there, limp and slack like some sort of oversized rag doll. “Azelma?!” In an attempt to wake her, he slapped her across the face. Although this would made her very annoyed at him, at least it would wake her up, right? But again, her eyes stayed closed and her body stayed limp.

They had never felt panic like it. Montparnasse checked her pulse again while muttering the word ‘fuck’ under their breath as many times as physically possible. After more shaking, more checking of her pulse, eyes, breathing. He realized that he wasn’t going to be able to wake her up, and the worst thing is that he could hear Eponine walking around downstairs, looking for her sister. They looked around desperately for a place to hide her, and it had already been made clear she could fit in the closet.

_____________________________________________________

“Zelma? Zel, where are you. Mama wants you.” Eponine sighed as she walked around empty rooms, peaking in every one of them to make sure that her sister wasn’t hiding in one to avoid her. Eponine hadn’t asked what her mother wanted with Azelma, and nor did she really care, but when one of her parents told her to do something, she got it done as quickly as possible

She went upstairs and straight away went to the room she had been in with Montparnasse earlier that day. She was honestly surprised to see him still there, as she’d probably been gone for a good half an hour, and she wondered what he could possible have been doing the whole time she’d been gone. That was until she saw the lit joint in their hand. “Hey.” He greeted casually as he saw her enter

“Hey.” She greeted back. “Have you seen Azelma? I can’t find her anywhere.” She hung around the doorway, hoping to just rush out when Montparnasse told her where Azelma was, but the reply she got wasn’t more than a shrug and a vague statement. 

“She told me she was going out when I saw her earlier.”  
“Did she say where she was going? Mama needs her for something and she’s gonna get pissed if she’s not there soon.” She played with some of the flaking paint around the door.  
“I don’t know. She hopped in someone car, haven’t seen her since.”  
Now she was concerned. “Who’s car?” She asked, sitting next to Montparnasse where he was on the bed.   
“I don’t know? I presumed one of her school friends parents for a play date or whatever.” He said with the same casual tone he had maintained since Eponine’s arrival in the room as he offered her the joint.

“Montparnasse this is serious. She could get killed if I don’t know who she’s with.” She took the joint, however, regardless of her concern. 

“I’m sure it’s fine.” He paused. “If she’s not by tonight, we’ll look for her.” Despite the fact Eponine knew he was probably only saying this to please her so she’d stay and get wasted with him instead of looking for her sister, she felt more at ease. Besides she was sure if it had been something really urgent, her mother would have shouted more than she did. 

“I worry about her a lot.” She took a drag of the joint, which might have been what made her say what came out next. “She means more to me than anyone in the world.” She looked over at Montparnasse, who she thought looked suddenly rather tense. “You ok? You look nervous.”

“I’m just worried about her. That's all.” He said, taking the drug back from her and doing his best to look comfortable and calm. Eponine clearly fell for it.

“Awww.” Eponine couldn’t help but feel a tinge of adoration. Montparnasse was hardly the most affectionate person in the world, so when he showed it, she felt extra special, as if someone had given her a warm hug that made her feel fuzzy inside. “I have a fun idea!” She pointed towards the old closet at the end of the room. “Let's see what ugly clothes are in that old closet.” 

“I don’t want to.” Montparnasse cut in. Almost suspiciously quickly. He noticed the look on Eponine’s face that his fast response had triggerd and covered for himself immediately. “Ugly clothes stress me out.” Not really a lie, more a truthful excuse. 

“Suit yourself. I’m having a look.”  
“Or we could go out and get drunk. I’ll pay.”   
“Wow, are you really that desperate not to see me in an ugly blouse?”  
“I can see that any time.”   
She opened her mouth in mock offense. “You really are pushing the sass today.” She laughed, but she took his hand and pulled him up, eager to get out of the house as quickly as possible. “Ok, lets go. Also I have a question.” 

“What is it?” Montparnasse asked, letting themselves be pulled out of the room and out of the house by Eponine and being extremely thankful she had let the subject of the closet alone and had found something new to focus on.

“Could you put in a good word for me with your friend Gueulemer? He’s really hot.” She said casually.   
“Yeah, sure.” Smiled Montparnasse, who was currently sleeping with Gueulemer.

They eventually ended up at one of the many dingy bars where they knew no one would recognize them, but was still terrible enough that they wouldn’t get kicked out for talking too loud after a few drinks or if one of them was caught buying pills in the bathroom. Montparnasse sat Eponine down at a table and went to the bar, where he ordered shots for her and a non-alcoholic cocktail for himself. Despite how much she drank, she was usually smashed after a few shots and she wouldn’t notice or care that he was still completely sober. As expected, within five shots, she was leaning against Montparnasse and stroking his shoulder. 

“Hiii.” She slurred and giggled as if it was some hilarious joke. “I love you!” She yelled over the music, which wasn’t actually that loud compared to Eponine’s astounding projection. 

In response, Montparnasse sipped his drink. “That’s nice.”   
“You’re soooooo pretty.”   
“So I’ve been told.” Eponine’s slightly greasy hands snaked their way into Montparnasse’s hair, and she started messing up his perfectly curled locks, which he wasn’t overly pleased with but he needed to keep her sweet and happy if she was going to go to bed the second they got home. 

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Eponine smiled up at them from her leaning position and they looked down at her face, which was most certainly anything but pretty.

“Totally.” He lied, making her giggle with happiness as if he’d written her a sonnet just by answering her question the way she wanted. “Want more drinks?”

“Yes please!” And once again he left to get her the most alcoholic thing he could find and himself the least alcoholic thing he could find. When he returned her head was on the table, resting on her chin and looking up at him with the puppy dog eyes that she always got when she’d had a lot to drink, meaning he was close to his goal. “You’re so nice to me. Why are you so nice to me?” 

He was starting to wonder if even in the state she was currently in, she would somehow work out every detail of exactly what happened and she probably wouldn’t run to her parents like Azelma would. That was too easy. She’d take care of him herself, which was probably ten times worse. While he was wondering this, she spoke again. “Have I done something you’re pleased with? You always seem annoyed with me.”

That comment was slightly resented, but he’d had enough of fighting today and just wanted her to pass out already, so he decided to continue being nice. “I realized I’ve been a dick, I should be nicer to you.” 

“Yeah you are a bit of a dick.” Said Eponine, who was also a bit of a dick. “But you’re my favourite dick - wait that sounds weird.” She added, making Montparnasse splutter of the mouthful of his drink he was currently taking.

She laughed and did a few more shots before sliding over to Montparnasse and attaching herself to him like a koala with parental issues and nuzzling her head into his neck, which he knew meant she was totally gone. “Come on, let's get you home.” Despite her argument back that she was having fun, he managed the guide her out of the bar and all the way home without any major accidents, aside from her tripping over her own heels a couple of times and nearly passing out while they walked. 

Once they were home, all she was capable of doing was mumbling incoherent things that Montparnasse didn’t know or care about. This was perfect for him however, since it meant that he got her in bed and asleep within ten minutes of crossing through the door with minimal effort.

Then he snuck up to the old guest bedroom and opened the closet. He was kind of vaguely hoping it had all been a very strange bad dream or hallucination, and that when he opened the closet it would only contain Madame Thenardier’s awful clothes from the 1990’s. Unfortunately, when he opened the door, it actually contained her dead daughter. Not that this was particularly surprising. 

It took less time to get her out of the house than it did getting Eponine into it. This was mostly due to the fact that Azelma was hardly going to complain or trip over as they went outside, and by now it was pitch black. So many thoughts and worries flew around his head as he drove in a car that wasn’t his for hours with Azelma placed on the back seat, positioned like a sleeping child incase someone was to look in on them as they sped past. It was a nice car, it was almost a shame when Montparnasse drove it into an abandoned car dump, and lit it on fire with Azelma still inside.


End file.
